1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to adhesive strips, method of making adhesive strips, methods of using adhesive strips, and devices for manufacturing adhesive strips.
2. Description of the Related Art
Throughout the daily use of a motor vehicle, passengers need to dispose of litter, write down information, use a tissue, or freshen the air. Currently, motor vehicles are not equipped with a solution or device that can attach temporarily the litter bag, writing pad, tissue package, or air freshener. Although many different devices have been invented, most are not usable today because of changes made in the design of the interior of the motor vehicle.
Prior devices hung from knobs in the vehicle compartment. In particular, prior-art devices hung from window cranks. The prior-art devices had a hole formed therein for hanging the device from the knob.
However, the elimination of most of the knobs in a vehicle cabin has made the prior-art devices obsolete. Contemporary vehicle designs have eliminated cranks used to open windows and knobs that operate the radio or lighter.
The main solution to this problem has been the use of a double sided adhesive tape or glue applied directly to a paper or plastic bag either during or after the manufacturing process of the bag.
The bags that have the adhesive applied during the manufacturing process have the disadvantage of a fixed size being manufactured, and the requirement of a complex procedure to change the size of the bag in any or all of its three measurements (i.e. length, width, and depth).
On the other hand, the bags that have the adhesive applied after they have been manufactured have the drawback of applying the tape or adhesive with a mechanically inefficient procedure or the use of manual labor.
In both cases, none of the previous art solves the problem of closing the bag after it has been filled with litter, nor do they solve the problem of the disposal of the used litter bag, writing pad, tissue package, or air freshener. They are difficult to dispose of because the double sided adhesive remains exposed and ready to attach to any other surface or object. When people remove the device from a surface and throw the device with exposed adhesive into a larger trash container, the adhesive ultimately adheres and attach itself to the trash container or to other debris.
In the case of plastic bags that are used as litter deposits in vehicles, the environment is their major setback, as plastic bags are more complex to recycle or degrade.
Also, in the prior art, other factors were not considered. First, the ergonomics and handling of the litter bag, writing pad, or tissue package were poorly constructed. The location of the double sided adhesive must be higher than the point where the hand touches that object. Our research showed that if the adhesive is at the same level or below the point where the hand touches the object, the adhesive will start separating from the panel where it was attached. Soon thereafter, the litter bag, the writing pad, or the tissue package, will detach itself and fall to the floor. Second, the position of the adhesive strip must be parallel to the floor and as wide as possible so the adhesive can resist better the pull of gravity and the handling by the user, which is also pulling in the same direction. Most of the previous art has the adhesive perpendicular to the floor, making the attachment to the panel tangibly weaker.